Chapter 13 Luca
CHAPTER 13: LUCA
Luca stood next to Cal at the end of a dirt road that looked out over a forested corner of the pack’s land that was far enough from the pack house and apartments that it wasn’t frequented much. Dark grey clouds hung heavy in the sky, threatening rain. The air smelled like the promise of the storm and damp earth.
Just behind them, Marco was talking on the phone to someone, Aria at his elbow listening in and offering the occasional comment. It sounded like logistics for a standard weapons trade. Luca glanced over at Cal to see how he was taking the criminal arrangements happening so nearby, but the witch seemed distracted by the view, staring out over the trees.
“Nervous?” Luca asked.
“Terrified,” Cal said, but he showed no other sign of it.
“I’ll be right there beside you.”
“You don’t have to shift because of me,” Cal said, flashing him a tight smile that was meant to be reassuring, but looked nothing like his usual easy grin.
“I want to,” Luca said, his jaw jutting in challenge .
Cal’s smile turned more genuine. “Proud of you,” he murmured.
Luca pressed into his side so he could hide the flush of pleasure that statement engendered, even though he knew Cal would’ve picked up on it.
“Ready to go?” Marco called from behind them, and Luca turned to see his cousin was already half naked and in the process of pulling off his jeans.
“As I’ll ever be,” Cal said, following suit.
They’d both worn soft, loose clothing—sweats and hoodies—to make things easier. All too soon, they were standing with nothing between their skin and the cool breeze.
“Aria will guard the cars. I’ll shift with you and run just in case you need a helping paw,” Marco said. “Once you’ve got the hang of it, I’ll head back early and let you and Luca have some privacy.”
Luca might’ve glared at his cousin for his matchmaking if he wasn’t so hung up on the first part of that sentence. The only reason Cal would need Marco’s help would be if he couldn’t shift or if he looked like his wolf side was taking over all his cognitive functions. Either was incredibly dangerous for a shifter.
“I’ll be fine,” Cal murmured into his hair, rubbing his stubble along Luca’s cheek to reinforce his scent on him. “And so will you.”
“Let’s just do it already,” Luca said.
“Ah, how exactly?” Cal asked, looking unsure for the first time.
“Luca, you shift first to show him and I’ll coach him through it,” Marco said.
Luca nodded and stepped clear of Cal, letting his shift take hold. The control he had was still such a novelty. He was actively making his body change, not just failing to hold it human. It did more to make him feel like he’d taken his power back than anything else had since Garyth forced that shift on him and made him watch his brother die.
Once he’d settled into his wolf form, he sat back on his haunches, head tilted up to watch his witch like he was the moon calling to his soul. Marco’s calm instructions washed over him largely ignored as he kept his focus on Cal, willing him to succeed.
Usually, when the change took over a shifter, the air around them blurred and it happened so fast you didn’t really see much more. That’s not what happened with Cal. Instead of a blur, the air around him glowed with the brilliant blue of his power and the amber and seawater of his scent filled the air. He shifted in a flash of power that left spots in Luca’s vision and when they cleared, the huge wolf standing before him filled him with awe.
No wonder there was an unofficial ban on witches being turned. There was no hiding Cal’s magical heritage. Luca thought his fur was probably a translucent white, but with the way the shift combined with his powerful magic, every strand glowed with an internal blue light like fibre-optic threads. He stood about the same height as Marco, who’d come up beside Luca in his own wolf form while he stared. Both were a full head taller than Luca.
Cal tilted his head as he stared back, his eyes flashing with the blue of his magic just like they had when his wolf was showing through when he was human.
“Holy shit,” Aria swore behind him.
That about summed it up.
Stepping forward with his tail wagging cautiously, Luca touched his nose to Cal’s with a low whine and then licked at him before ducking his head. Cal huffed and nosed him back.
Marco’s ruff was standing up stiffly as he approached, wariness in the lines of his body. Luca whined again as he watched them size each other up, and then his witch did the most beautiful thing for him. He lowered his tail and his body just a little, making himself a touch smaller than Marco. It was the lightest of submissions, but it was enough to reassure his Alpha cousin of where they stood. Cal was keeping his word. He wasn’t going to be challenging for the pack, despite the fact he was far more powerful than even Luca had imagined.
The tension was broken when Cal took his first slightly awkward steps a moment later, feeling out his way on four legs instead of two. Luca playfully nipped at his tail and darted away toward the trees. When was the last time he’d tried to play in wolf form? Probably before his parents died.
Turning back to the two huge wolves behind him, he yipped impatiently and watched as Cal carefully loped toward him with Marco keeping pace. Oh yeah, maybe he should’ve been staying by his side as well. The glow in Cal’s eyes said he didn’t mind chasing him. Liked it, even.
Sniffing at the air, Luca caught the familiar scent of the river in the distance. It was the perfect destination for a—what was Cal? A water wolf? As he circled back to hurry Cal along, he could see Marco’s tail wagging and his teeth bared in a lupine grin. His Alpha was laughing at him. Whatever. It was the first time he’d felt like his whole self in forever and he was going to damn well enjoy it. With his wolf witch.
Cal adjusted to his new body quickly, of course. He was too perfect. True to his word, Marco peeled away from them with a nudge to Luca’s flank and a teasing bite to his ear once he was reassured Cal was doing okay. Luca knew he’d be waiting back at the car to make sure the shift back to human form went without a hitch. A buzz of anxiety from his own past hit him at the thought, but he pushed it away. He wasn’t going to put his issues on Cal. Besides, if the man could fix him when he’d been broken for so many years, he was sure Cal would manage the shift just fine .
It was maybe ten minutes later, just as the first drops of rain hit the ground, that it all went wrong.
Cal’s body jerked ahead of him, twisting toward the empty forest and baring his teeth in a snarl as his fur glowed even brighter. Searching the trees for the threat, Luca scented the air but came back empty. Too empty. Why hadn’t he noticed the unnatural silence around them? For once, he didn’t overthink calling for help. Not with Cal so new to this form. He knew the man would be determined to protect him and he wasn’t going to watch anyone else he loved die in front of him.
Fuck. He loved Cal.
Shaking his head at the poorly timed revelation, he tilted his nose to the sky and howled long and loud, calling his family. He’d barely hit the top note in his cry when he yelped, his song cut off by a bullet ripping into his side. It was a glancing blow, the bullet carrying on into the dirt, but the shock of the burn of silver entering his bloodstream had his legs trembling and collapsing under him. It was the only thing that saved him from the headshot that immediately followed.
With a furious growl, Cal charged in the direction the shots had fired from, quickly somersaulting in a tangle of limbs and tail as a net of glowing copper settled over him, constricting so fast he had no chance of wriggling free.
Every instinct in Luca screamed to run to his mate, but he knew his fangs had no hope against the magic he could smell in that net and he needed to find cover before his brains were splatted all over the forest floor. Darting behind a huge ancient redwood, he choked out another howl, this one sounding pained and panicked. If Marco hadn’t already been running full speed toward them, he would be now.
Their attackers must’ve dropped the silencing spell to focus on keeping Cal contained because, as he pricked his ears toward them, he could hear their voices. Even as he listened, he carefully catalogued each one so he knew who to torture to death later. Their fate had been sealed the moment they harmed his witch.
“Leave the other one. The boss will want to see whatever this wolf is and his pack will be here any moment,” a female voice ordered.
“But the other one was our target. I’m not going back empty handed again. It’s only a matter of time before he realises where he saw me,” a male voice replied.
“You’ll do as you’re fucking told,” the woman snapped. A pained cry from the man followed shortly after.
Wait. He’d said where he’d seen him. Luca had thought they were targeting him for something he’d stumbled across in his hacking of the terrorist group D2S—one of the bank accounts he was monitoring or the properties he was tracking down. The timelines had matched up with the first shot taken at him shortly after he started focussing in on them. Something about the way this guy had said it made it sound like he’d seen him in person, though.
Why hadn’t he retraced his physical movements right before the attacks as well as his digital ones? He knew the answer. It was because he’d been too distracted by everything else while trying to cope with the trauma Angelo’s mating had resurfaced in him and then everything happening with Cal. He’d taken his eye off his prey, and it had circled around to bite him on the ass.
Keeping low, he poked his nose out from behind his hiding spot and tried to get a look at the guy who’d been talking. He got a whiff of earth magic and saw a flash of brown curls before a bullet slammed into the ground next to his head, grazing his muzzle and shaving off at least one of his whiskers.
Growling, he ducked back out of sight, but not before he saw the net Cal was still tied up in being dragged in the opposite direction, toward one of the other entrances to the forest. At least he could hear Cal’s heart rate thumping too fast in the distance. The important thing was that he was still alive.
A moment later, that heartbeat was silenced between one breath and the next. Cut off.
Panic rushed through Luca and he was halfway out from behind the tree before he realised the witch had merely re-erected the sound and scent muffling spells he’d been using earlier so they could make a clean getaway.
Focussing in on the sensations he’d been ignoring since the day he walked into Cal’s bar, Luca let himself feel the tug of Cal’s essence pulling at his soul. A relieved breath escaped him as he realised he could track Cal like this as long as he could get his body to function properly.
He’d only loped half a dozen steps in the direction the attackers had disappeared when Marco and Aria caught up to him.
His sister whined and licked at his wounded side despite the risk of silver poisoning. Shaking her off, he shifted back to his human form to explain the situation as quickly as he could, still moving after his mate with the two wolves flanking him on either side. A shimmer on his left was followed by Marco’s calm, controlled voice.
“We need to get to them before they realise who Cal is and why he looks like that. Otherwise, they’re going to find a way to use him to start a war between us and the witches,” Marco said.
Luca swore under his breath. He’d been so focussed on reaching his mate he hadn’t even thought about the wider implications. “They’ll be parked at Grange Junction. They must still be five minutes out at human speed dragging that net. We can catch them,” Luca said .
They both shifted back and the three wolves sprinted through the forest, slowly spreading out as they drew closer so they could encircle their attacker’s position.
Luca saw red as he heard the slam of metal doors ahead, skidding into the clearing just as the engine turned over in a dark green Jeep and the vehicle started moving away. With his mate inside.
Fuck that.
Uncaring whether he’d be injured, he threw himself at the front tyre, managing to slash his claws down hard enough to puncture it. The Jeep spun out, losing speed. The kidnappers must’ve left a guard back with the vehicle because one of the back windows rolled down and a semi-automatic weapon peeked out. Letting his momentum carry him up onto the roof, Luca shifted back into human form and grabbed the barrel of the weapon. The human holding it was no match for his shifter strength. Once he had the rifle in hand, he swapped sides and slammed the butt down into the glass, hoping his sense of Cal was correct and his mate was sitting in the passenger seat.
Growls and more gunfire said his family was doing their thing and keeping the rest of the humans distracted. Reaching down, he partially shifted his hands into claws to slice through the seatbelt and then hauled Cal’s deadweight up into his arms. His mate was rigid and immobile. Still trapped in that damn magic net that had become invisible as soon as it fully encased him.
The Jeep accelerated sharply while Cal was still hanging half out the window. Luca’s hands burned where he was touching the magic holding him captive, but he ignored the pain. Knowing he needed to jump clear before the vehicle got up any more speed, he gave one last heave to pull Cal’s back paws out of the vehicle and threw them off the back of the roof .
They landed with a thump on rough gravel, Luca twisting his body to get between Cal’s unmoving form and the road to cushion his fall. The Jeep tore off into this distance as he groaned where he lay on the ground.
“You okay?” Marco asked, coming up beside him.
“I’ll live. Where’s Aria?” Luca asked.
“Trying to see which way the Jeep heads when it gets back to the open road.”
“Is anyone near enough to follow them by vehicle?” Luca asked.
Marco shook his head. “One of our warehouses was raided just before they attacked. They knew they needed a distraction.”
Luca pushed his face into Cal’s fur and drew in a deep breath to calm himself. His mate was so tied up he couldn’t even make a sound, but when Luca looked up, his bright blue eyes were wide with concern for him.
“How do we get him out of this?” Luca asked.
He could feel Cal straining against the hidden magic of the net, and he ran his hands all over his body, hunting for something he could rend with his claws. The sky chose that moment to open up into a torrential downpour and drops of rain needled against his skin where they hit.
It was just the boost his water witch needed. The water beading against his skin began to glow, stretching to form a sheet around his body. A moment later, it exploded outward, smashing whatever spell had been holding him and flashing like blue lightning. When Luca’s vision cleared, Cal was lying on his back in human form, panting.
“Fuck, that was uncomfortable,” he said.
Luca just tugged the big man into his lap and clung to him, breathing in deep, dragging breaths of his scent from his neck.
“Hey. I’m okay, baby. I’m safe,” Cal murmured, seemingly unbothered by his nakedness in front of Marco as he let Luca scent mark him.
“We need to get back to the car and regroup,” Marco said.
“That guy who took me was the earth witch we’ve been looking for. Did you figure out who he was, baby?” Cal asked Luca.
Luca frowned and thought back to the brief glimpse he’d caught of the man. Light brown curls. Why were they so familiar?
“Maybe you saw him with one of your family,” Cal prompted.
The question reminded Luca of the argument they’d had earlier when Cal had accused Gio of being the traitor. And then his heart sank like lead in his chest as he realised why those brown curls had looked so familiar.
“Fuck,” he whispered, staring out unseeing into the gloomy afternoon. It couldn’t be him. How could it be him?
“Tell me,” Marco said, voice firm as he reached down and gripped Luca’s nape, anchoring him.
Focussing on the feel of Cal’s body still pressed against his legs, Luca opened his mouth and tried to speak, but no words came out.
“Your uncle Gio?” Cal asked softly.
Luca jerked his head in a nod and Marco let out a string of curses.
“Where did you see the earth witch?” his Alpha asked, his dominant power sneaking into the question as he struggled to contain his anger at the betrayal.
“I’ve seen them together twice, I think. Once just before the first shooting attempt and once a few days after. They were on the street by one of our restaurants. I never got a good look. I thought Gio was dating him. Gio told me he’d tell me about him the day I told him about a guy I cared about,” Luca said .
“Are you certain it was him?” Marco asked.
“Maybe seventy percent?” Luca said. “It was in passing and I never even saw his face.”
“Seventy percent isn’t enough to accuse one of our closest relatives,” Marco said, but Luca could tell he’d accepted the truth of his statement. He knew Luca would never have accused Gio if there was any doubt in his mind.
“Gio was acting strange when we left your house after the body was stolen,” Cal chimed in. “It was almost like he was trying to warn Luca to stay away.”
“What the fuck has he got himself into?” Marco snarled.
“We need to draw him out. See if we can get him to talk. He’s obviously conflicted about it,” Luca said.
Cal growled in protest, and Marco shook his head.
“I’m not using you as bait unless there’s no other option and I won’t gamble your safety on a traitor’s family loyalty. I’ll talk to him tonight. See if I can sound him out. You and Cal head back to the penthouse and stay put until I call,” Marco said.
Tyres crunching on gravel had them all coming to instant alert before they realised it was just Aria returning in the car they’d parked at the other entrance. The frustration on her face said she hadn’t managed to keep pace with the Jeep long enough to get any intel.
“Come on, baby. You’re still healing, and I’m exhausted from breaking that spell. Let your Alpha do his thing and we’ll go home,” Cal cajoled, reaching up to cup his jaw and stroke a thumb softly over his cheek like he needed to reassure himself Luca was there and still breathing.
“Fine,” Luca said. “But tomorrow we end this. One way or the other. I can’t carry on hunting my own family.”